Flatiron



y 1955 J. H. HILLDALE 2,712,703

FLATIRON Filed Jan. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eie'ctric Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application January 4, 1951 Serial No. 204,310 7 Claims. (Cl. 38- 79) This invention relates to flatirons, and more particularly to supporting arrangements therein whereby the flatiron is movable to a raised position to remove the heated sole plate from an ironing surface.

In the past, the flatirons of this general type which have gone into commercial use have been characterized by the use of one or more supporting legs extending forwardly from the rear of the fiatiron and seatable in a recess or recesses provided in the sole plate. In such fiatirons, there has been a tendency for the supporting leg or legs to catch on the material being ironed. Catching has been particularly noticeable after the parts 'hav'eworn to some extent and the supporting leg or legs become slightly displaced from their fully seated position in the sole plate recesses. Moreover, the supporting legs have occupied a substantial area of the sole plate, thus decreasihg 'the effective area. Furthermore, such fiatirons have employed a hollow rear handle column to house a portion the support actuatin'g mechanism. This-has presented clearance problems with respect to the electrical terminals located within said column. The hollow column has provided a heat stack 'eifect with resultant excessive heating of the rear of the handle. Location of portions of the actuating mechanism in the rear handle column and adjacent the rear of the soleplate has also beendiSadvantageous for the parts have been adversely affected by the high temperatures prevalent therein.

The principal object of th present invention is to provide an improved suppor -equipped flatiron which overcomes the disadvantages of prior fiatirons such as above mentioned, and which has apparent hereinafter. I v

in accordance with this invention there is provided a support-equipped fiatiron which is novelly characterized in that it employs a movable plungerdike support member and actuating means therefor within the confines of the flatiron, said member being movable between a retracted position and a projected position. Further, in this flatiron the front column of the handle is hollow and this space, which is away from the high temperature Zone of the soleplate, is utilized to accommodate the actuating me'ansfor the support member and also to permit the "desired degree of movement of said member. In its projected position, the said member serves to elevate the flatiron in 'an inclined position, there being provided stationary supporting means at the rear of the fiatiron adapted to engage the ironing surface when the front 'p'art of the flatiron is raised by the movable supporting member. The close association of the support member and the actuating means therefor in the front column facilitates design and tends to make the assembly'no'n-critical to the overall tolerances and dimensional stability of the entire device. Furthermore, the use of the space within the confines of the iron at the forward portion thereof to house the support means, and particularly the use of a portion of the front handle column to partially accommodate the support means, permits a wide range of angular dispositions of the soleplate surface'relative "to the work surface. It

desirable advantages as will be nited States Patent C) til.

is guided at its lower portion by a sleeve 2,712,703 Patented July 12, 1955 is desirable to obtain a large projected area of support defined by the rear support and the front support member for any particular soleplate delineation. This provides maximum stability to the iron when supported in the event the iron is accidentally tilted, for the center of gravity of the iron lying within the said area will act to restore the iron to its supported position. Further, it is desirable to provide sufiicient angular disposition of the neuron so that convection currents rising around the soleplate will not excessively heat the handle. The disposition of'the support means in accordance with this invention permits great freedom of design so as to obtain these features.

The invention may be fully understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figs. 1 and 2 are small-scale elevational views of a preferred embodiment of the flatiron, respectively showing the same in operating position and in supported position;

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in side elevation and paitly in section, showing the movable support member and the associated mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line '44 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 to 7 are fragmentary sectional views showing more clearly the latch arrangement associated with the movable support member, and also showing the operation of the latch mechanism during release;

Figs. '8 and 9 are small-scale side elevational views of the flatiron showing the mode of manual manipulation to restore the iron to its operative position; I

Figs. 10 and ll are fragmentary sectional views showing the latch arrangement during manipulation of theiron to restore same to its operative position;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view mechanism as shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 13' I.3 of Fig. 12

As may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the flatiron itself is generally of convention'al forrn, comprising a sole plate 10, a cover plate or shell 11 and a handle 12, all suitably secured together. The present invention is not concerned with the details of construction of the fiatiron, other than the structural features hereinafter described and provided in accordance with the present invention.

. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, as shownv in Fig. 3, the front column 13 of the handle is made hollow to provide an upwardly extending recess therein, and a movable plunger-like support member 14 is provided which extends into the-hollow column 13 and which also extends through an opening 15 in the cover plate or shell 11, and is movable through a passage 16 provided in the sole plate 10. In its retracted position, as shown in Fig. 3, the support member 14 is entirely within the confines of the fiatiron and permits use thereof in the usual manner. As described hereinafter, the support member 14 is movable to a projected position, as shown in Fig.2, to raise the flatiron to a tilted position in relation to the ironing surface 17. At the rear of the flatiron, there is provided a supporting projection 18 which extends laterally across the rear part of the fiatiron and which engages the ironing surface 17 only when the fiatiron is tilted upwardly as shown in Fig. 2. e

Referring further to Fig. 3, the support member 14 19 provided in a recess 2 0 of the sole plate, while the upper portion of the lat-ch .of said'memher is guided by means of a guide channel 21 formed in the handle structure and a cooperating collar 22 pinned to the member 14. Rotation of said member is prevented by a detent extension 23 (Pig. j4)- on said collar and a'cooperating slot or recess 24.

The support member '14 is urged downwardly relative to the flatiron by a helical spring disposed in an said position against the force of spring 25 by the latch mechanism presently to be described. When the latch mechanism is released, the spring is effective to produce relative movement between the flatiron and the support member 14, causing the flatiron to raise to the tilted position of Fig. 2. a 7

Referring now to e latch mechanism and its operating elements, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, l2 and 13, a latch element 29 is bifurcated to straddle a flat projection 33 at the upper end of member 14 and is pivoted to said projection at 31.. The latch element 29 is urged clockwise, as viewed in the figures, by a spring 32 secured to member 14 at 33 and bearing against the element 29. This latch element carries a roller 34 which is engageable by a second latch element 35 which is pivotally supported at 36 by a lever 37. The element 35. has a lower hooklikeend 38 for engagement with roller 34, and it is urged in clockwise direction, as viewed in the figures, by a spring 39 which is coiled about the pivot 36 and which has one end engaging lever 37 at 49 and the other end engaging element 35 at 41. The upper end 42 of latch element 35 is hook-shaped for engagement with a keeper or detent element 43 fixedly supported by the handle 12.

Lever 37 extends within the upper part, i. e. the gripn ping part, of the handle 12 and is pivoted at 44, the said part of the handle being hollow to accommodate the lever and to permit limited pivotal movement thereof. A spring 45 urges the lever counter-clockwise about its pivot, as viewed in the figures, the spring being coiled about the pivot 44 and having one end engaging the interior surface of the handle at 46, and having its other end engaging lever 37 at 47. The lever 37 carries a saddle member 48 which extends externally of the bandle, the latter being recessed or cut away to accommodate'this member. This saddle member is engagcable by the heel portion of the users hand to effect latching of the support member 14 as hereinafter described.

To release the latch mechanism there is provided a trigger element 49 which is pivoted within the handle 12 at 50 and extends externally thereof, being provided with a flng er-engageable portion 51. The trigger element has a projecting arm 52 on which is carried a pin 53 which is engageable with an inclined edge 54 on the latch element 29. The upper part of the trigger ele ment is engageable with a pin 55 on'latch element 35 to actuate the latter.

When the latch mechanism is in latched condition, the parts or elements are disposed as shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 12, the support member 14 being held in its retracted position by interengagement of the latch elements 29 and 35. Whenever it is desired to effect raising of the flatiron to its supported position shown in Fig. 2, the

7 user moves the trigger element 49 counter-clockwise, as

shown in Fig. 6. The pin 53 then acts to deflect latch element 29 against the action of its spring 32, and at the 7 same time the triggerelement engages pin 55 on latch element 35 and moves this element counter-clockwise. These actions efiect'unlatching of elements 29 and 35 (see Fig. 7), and also effect unlatching of element '35 from the stationary keeper or detent element 43.

Therefore spring 25 is effective to cause relative movement between the flatiron and the support member 14,

fiand the spring exerts suificient force to raise the flatiron to the inclined position shown in Fig. 2.

"When it is desired to resume the ironing operation,

the user presses downwardly on handle 12 as in Pig. 8 to move the flatiron downward until the sole plate 10 engages the ironing surface 17. The downward movement of the flatiron brings the latch elements 29 and 35- ward until it latches onto the keeper element 43, and at' the same time the plunger-like support member 14 is drawn upward to its fully retracted position by virtue of the interengagement of latch elements 29 and 35. While the latch element 35 is deflected in latching onto the keeper element 43, the element 35 remains in latching engagement with latch element 29. This is due to the fact that unlatching of these elements requires movement of element 23 by the trigger element 49, as previously described. During the relatching operation, the trigger element 49 is not actuated and is thereforeineffective. Thus the parts or elements are returned to the positions of Fig. 3, and the user is enabled to proceed with the ironing operation.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the invention provides a novel structure having the various advantages and desirable features hereinbefore mentioned. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but is capable of various modifications and other embodiments.

I claim:

1. In a flatiron, a sole plate, a cover shell therefor, a handle structure having a front column with an upwardy extending recess, said shell and said sole plate havingopenings aligned with each other and withsaid recess, a plunger-like support member mounted for movement in said openings and said recess to recede upwardly at least partially into said recess and to project downwardly through the sole plate opening from the bottom of the'flatiron, said support member when retracted upwardly permitting use of the flatiron and when projected downwardly serving to support the front part of the flatiron in elevated position above an ironing surface,

manual downward pressure exerted on the handle structure to lower the flatiron onto the ironing surface.

2. A flatiron according to claim 1, wherein said mechanism comprises acompression spring urging said support member downward, and latching means for retain ing said member in retracted position and releasable by said manual element to render said spring effective.

3. A flatiron according to claim 2, including manually-operable means on said handle for lifting said support member to fully retracted position, to be held there by said latching means, after the flatiron has been lowered onto the ironing surface.

' 4. A flatiron according to claim 3, wherein said manually-operable means includes a manual element at the rear ally-operable means comprises a lever extending within the handle, and the latching means comprises a latching element pivotally secured to the support member, a second latching element pivotally secured to said lever and engageable with the first latching element, and a fixed detent element within the handle engageable by said second latching element.

6. In combination with a sad iron of the type having a sole plate, a cover shell therefor and an operating handle provided with a hollow front leg, of collapsible self-lifting supporting mechanism cooperating with the rear end of said cover shell for supporting said sole plate out of contact with the ironing surface when the iron is not in use comprising, openings through said shell and said sole plate underlying said hollow handle leg, an elongated rest member reciprocably positioned in said openings and substantially concealed within said iron, spring means between said rest member and said iron for projecting said rest member downwardly through said openings to an extended position in which the forward end of said iron is elevated, manually operable means for locking said rest member in a retracted position above the lower surface of said sole plate including inter-engaging cam means on said rest and on said iron.

7. in combination, a sad iron having a sole plate, a cover shell therefor and an operating handle secured together in super-imposed relation, a retractable support ing mechanism confined to the forward end of said iron and normally substantially concealed therewithin, said mechanism comprising a plunger arranged for limited reciprocable movement through super-imposed openings in said sole plate, cover shell and the forward end of said handle, spring means interposed between said iron and said plunger and arranged to elevate the forward end of the iron onto said plunger as the latter is projected downwardly through the opening in said sole plate, interengageable means carried by said retractable supporting mechanism and said iron for normally locking said mechanism in the retracted position thereof until forcibly released by the operator, and control means extending to a point exteriorly of said iron for releasing said interengaging means at the option of the user whereupon said spring means is operative to extend said plunger and elevate said iron to its inclined rest position with the sole plate out of contact with an ironing surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,072,217 Reed Mar. 2, 1937 2,211,839 Simonson Aug. 20, 1940 2,224,896 Burian Dec. 17, 1940 2,470,532 Thomas May 17, 1949 2,501,549 Swenson Mar. 21, 1950 2,511,309 Tullgren et al. June 13, 1950 2,596,314 Wales May 13, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,076 Norway July 17, 1944 

